Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 2.17.97

-Written: 6.19.26
-Run Time: 1:52:34

-Plug: Last week!

-Announce Team: Hour One: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko
-Tampa, Florida

-We start with two limos in the back and here’s the nWo. As they walk towards the building, you see Bubba drop out of frame. The rest turn back to see and someone has attacked Bubba. INTRIGUE!

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Super Calo

-These two had a good match at Fall Brawl back in September. Calo lands an elbow and then takes Rey over with a reverse chinlock. Rey escapes and hits a basement dropkick to the back of the head. Rey runs Cal over with a shoulder tackle, which is weird to see. Rey isn’t usually running anyone over. Rey goes to spring, but Calo catches him on the way down with Code Breaker. Sunset flip powerbomb to the floor, but Rey avoids and nearly gets a head scissors. Calo comes off the apron with a dropkick and then a sling shot senton on the floor. Nice! That looked like it sucked to take for Rey. Back in the ring Calo drops an elbow for a two count. Sidewalk slam as we cut to the back and see Big Bubba getting loaded into an ambulance. Nash yells they will get some redemption. We get back to the pesky CW Match with Calo pulling Rey’s arm over the top rope. Rey catches a charging Calo with an elbow and springs off the top with a corkscrew splash. We get the silly spot where Calo holds onto the ropes and sits there so Rey can drop a leg from the top. Even back then I thought that was silly. Calo cuts Rey off up top and then brings him down with a head scissors for two. Clothesline missed and Rey gets a submission. He lets Calo go and hits the springboard rana for the pin at 5:58.

Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr. via pin at 5:58
-This was solid even with a portion cut out due to the nWo backstage issues. **3/4

Hugh Morrus vs. Mongo (w/ Debra)

-The crowd is pumped to see Mongo. This is Dungeon vs. Horsemen and in those battles the crowd is always cheering for The Horsemen. Lockup and Mongo buries a knee to the gut and throws forearms in the corner. Clothesline from Mongo and he clips the knee with a shoulder block. Another one! Mongo wastes too much time and that lets Hugh gets a take down and he follows with a head butt to the mid section. Hugh goes to the leg, but that doesn’t really so anywhere. Slam and Hugh heads up top. He takes too long and Mongo brings him down with an Electric Chair Drop. Hugh up first as Mongo sells the knee. He boots Mongo in the head and drops an elbow on the damaged knee. Hugh mocks The Horsemen gesture and gets a slam. Up again, but Debra slips Mongo the briefcase. He uses to block No Laughing Matter and Mongo gets the pin at 4:20.

Winner: Mongo via pin at 4:20
-Started fine, but went longer than needed. Mongo’s over the top selling of the knee was kind of funny. No clue how the ref misses the briefcase being slid into the ring. *

-Video package covering Hogan/Piper and how Hogan tried to embarrass Piper in front of his son.

Dean Malenko vs. Robbie Brookside

-Dean grabs the mic and has words for Syxx, nothing how his father helped train Syxx just a few mies up the road from the arena. Lockup and Dean gets a leg trip. We get some mat wrestling as they trade holds and counters. Dean gets a one count off a trip and it’s a stalemate. We go again and they trade arm control. Robbie rolls through, but Dean grounds him and drives his knee into the arm. Dean with a Full Nelson, but Robbie escapes. Dean tries to get a reverse chinlock, but Brookside counters. Dean hits a running clothesline in the corner. Suplex, but Robbie slides out and gets a backdrop slam. Dropkick! Roll-up for two. They trade pin attempts before Dean has had enough. Brainbuster and Texas Cloverleaf finish at 2:52.

Winner: Dean Malenko via pin at 2:52
-Not much to this one as it was like a training session more than a match. What they did looked good though. *

-Syxx is out and says the respect and gratitude he had for Dean died with Dean’s father. He never liked Dean and admits he stole the belt to get a shot because Dean has been ducking him. He then hits a crotch chop (the camera misses it) and Dean chases him off.

-Hall, Nash, and Syxx are out after a commercial break and take over the announcer’s desk. Hall: “Larry Zbyszko, I though you would be bigger.” They note the Steiners were in a car accident, but they weren’t involved and Nash references the OJ trial with “don’t fit you must acquit.” The crowd wants to see Larry throw hands with the nWo, but it would take a bit before we got a payoff to that.

The Amazing French Canadians (w/ Colonel Parker) vs. The Public Enemy

-Faces of Fear and Harlem Heat are watching from the crowd again. All these teams just battling underneath while Hall and Nash do whatever with the tag titles. Parker actually beats the stuffing out of Grunge on the floor. Back in the ring the AFC hit a double team high-low move. Tony lets us know the car accident has knocked The Steiners out of the 4 Way Match on Sunday. AFC drop Grunge throat first on the top rope and Oulette gets a reverse chinlock. Grunge escapes and sends AFC into each other, but gets called with an elbow on the rebound. Parker takes the ref, so the tag is not seen. AFC miss the assisted Senton from the top and the hot tag is made to Rock. He runs wild punches and clothesline. Slam to Jacques. Backdrop to Pierre. Everyone brawls on the floor and Pierre ends up on a table and Rock slings out with a senton to put him through the table and back in the ring for the pin at 4:45.

Winners: The Amazing French Canadians via pin at 4:45
-Not much to this one, but the crowd loved The PE. *1/2

-Gene is back this week and has DDP out for an interview. He wants to know if DDP knows who attacked Bubba. DDP says he just walked in the door 10 minutes ago and has no clue what happened. Gene pushes, but Page has no clue what he’s talking about and is just here to see the ref match. Now he is worried about Bubba and he walks off.

-This Saturday Night at 6:05 PM: Jeff Jarrett vs. Konan, Rey Jr vs. Villano IV, and Ice Train vs. Super Calo, and more!

WCW Television Championship: Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Prince Iaukea

-If you squint really hard and possibly take acid, this may look like Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia that was happening in the other company. Tony explains why it is taking so long to play the VHS Tape The Outsiders brought. I guess it’s a different type of tape. I don’t remember having those issues with my VCR recorder/player, but I had issues with recording and burning DVDs later with their different versions. Prince lands a right hand, so Regal stalls and sells in the corner. Regal with a thumb to the eye, but tells the crowd and ref it was a palm strike. He lands a Euro Uppercut and a stiff looking kick to the face. Suplex from Regal and he stomps Prince for good measure. He tees off with right hands and gets a double under hook suplex off the top rope. He drops to his knees and calls for “the bloody midget.” Rey is out to watch as Regal drops an elbow. He goes for the cocky cover, and Prince rolls him up for the pin and Championship at 3:31.

Winner and New WCW Television Champion: Prince Iaukea via pin at 3:31
-Again, the WWF was putting their young Pacific Islander over a Blue Blood for the IC Title, WCW did the same here. Regal dominated until the fluke ending, but it popped the crowd and sometimes an unexpected title win is needed so the fans think there’s always a chance it can happen. *1/4

-Teddy Long and The Public Enemy are out to celebrate with the new champion.

-Hour Two Pyro!

-Announce Team: Hour Two: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan

Nick Patrick vs. Randy Anderson

-If Randy wins, he gets his job back. The crowd is into this one and starts a “Randy” chant. Jimmy Jet is the ref and hands Randy a foreign object. Nice! Randy keeps his distance and just waits. Nick thinks it’s a joke and gets CLOCKED. Randy covers for the pin at 40 seconds.

Winner: Randy Anderson via pin at 0:40
-One second as here’s Eric Bischoff.

-Randy forgets to take the weapon of his hand and Eric tells him he should know better than that. Eric overturns the decision and fires Jimmy Jet as well.

Winner: Nick Patrick via DQ at 0:40
-This was what you would expect and they kept it short plus got even more heat on Eric and sympathy for two refs now. SQUASH

-Hulk Hogan wants us to buy his shirt! 4 Lyfe!

-Lee Marshall is On The Road with 1-800-Collect and is in San Francisco as they host SuperBrawl this Sunday. Weasel jokes made as always. Gives me a chance to let out a BANG BANG NINER GANG!

Roadblock vs. Chris Benoit (w/ Woman)

-George Steinbrenner is in the crowd as he is the host of this event and the money raised is for his charity. Lockup and Block shoves Benoit into the corner. Benoit creates space and starts firing off right hands. Roadblock turns the tide and beats Benoit down in the corner before hitting a clothesline. He hits a slam and then talks trash to Woman, so she slaps him in the face. That popped the crowd! Roadblock goes after Woman, and in a sweet camera shot, Benoit’s feet come into frame and connect with Block’s face. That was cool! RB gets sent into the railing. Benoit sends him back into the ring and just keep batting Block in the face until he falls. Benoit up to and the swan dive headbutt finishes at 2:28.

Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 2:28
-This was fine for a 2 minute match. Benoit gets a win over a giant and it was short. *1/2

-We finally get the video from The Outsiders. Black and White like Clerks! It’s video from Syxx’s camera of The Outsiders and him driving around and finding The Steiners at a gas station. They follow The Steiners and offer sound advice on how to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Nash gives The Steiners a little love tap and Scott Steiner shows immediate signs of road rage. Rick loses control of the car and they go off road and flip the car. This was well done for a wrestling stunt. Kudos!

-Tony says there is no doubt the Outsiders and Syxx caused the accident and thank The Outsiders for the evidence as this is a criminal offense. I mean, we have history for something like this as The Horsemen filmed themselves beating Dusty Rhodes with a baseball bat. Tony does a good job of explaining this needs to be handled outside of the wrestling business.

-Gene catches Kevin Sullivan, Jackie, and Jimmy Hart as they make their way to the ring. Sullivan gets a pop by mentioning he grew up in Tampa, and Nancy took him out of the neighborhood to Daytona.

Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jackie and Jimmy Hart) vs. Doc Dean

-Sullivan attacks the boy jobber before the bell and just mauls him. Slam followed by a knee to the face. He scratches at the back and starts firing off right hands. The good Doc gets tossed to the floor and Jackie attacks with forearms and gets a slam after sending him into the railing. Back in the ring, Doc gets a sunset flip for two. He also gets a small package for two. Sullivan stays in control with a belly-to-back suplex. Back to the and more abuse from Jackie. She lights his chest up with chops and delivers a suplex. Back in the ring Sullivan puts Doc in the Tree of Woe and hits the running knee. Double Stomp finishes at 3:18.

Winner: Kevin Sullivan via pin at 3:18
-Same as Sullivan’s last SQUASH match, though this kid got a couple pin attempts. They did a great job of making Jackie look like a threat from the jump. SQUASH

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Konan

-Lockup and Konan buries a knee to the ribs. He hits a Press Slam and then plays to the crowd. Another Press Slam, but Eddie rolls down to counter and ends up getting a head scissors. He sends Konan to the floor with an arm-drag. He slings out to the floor, but Konan catches him and fires him into the railing. Into the steps and Konan makes sure to roll into the ring to break the count. I appreciate when a wrestler does that. It’s a small thing, but I notice. Back in the ring Konan gets a roll into a clothesline and hooks a reverse chinlock. Basement dropkick gets two and then back to the reverse chinlock. Lariat from Konan and he gets a slam before heading up top. Eddie catches him with a dropkick on the way down. Eddie with chops, but charges and gets boosted into they air and lands face first on the top buckle. Nice! Konan goes back to the reverse chinlock. Sit-out powerbomb gets two! Back to the chinlock and now the crowd starts an Eddie chant. Konan elbows Eddie down and hooks an arm-bar and then to a side headlock. Eddie shoves off and gets a shoulder tackle. Uppercuts from Eddie followed by a snap suplex. He heads up top, but Konan meets him up there. Eddie shoves off and comes off with the Frog Splash, but here’s The Faces of Fear to break up the pin and cause a DQ at 6:03.

Winner and Still WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Eddie Guerrero via DQ at 6:03
-This was fine, but Konan’s insistence of going back to the chinlock was annoying. The non-finish was silly as well, but Konan didn’t do many clean jobs in WCW. **1/4

-The FOF beat down Eddie, but Chris Jericho is out to make the save. It’s Eddie vs. Jericho at SuperBrawl this Sunday.

-It’s time for our weekly episode of How The Four Horsemen Turn! The entire group is out as Gene says the group is back together again and reminds him of the mid 80s. Flair cuts a Flair promo and makes sure to put over how great Debra and Woman look and calls Benoit “The Love Machine.” Arn cuts a promo on Mr. Bischoff and says the character of the guys who work in WCW never changed. He calls The Horsemen the core of WCW and credits Larry Z and Jimmy Jet for standing up and doing what’s right. He tells the Dungeon and the nWo, the Horsemen aren’t rolling over for anyone. Mongo takes shots at the crowd for The Buccaneers. Yet since then TB has won 2 Super Bowls and the Bears are still stuck in 1985. Debra gossips about Jackie and how she “could not catch a pig in a ditch.” Benoit tells Sullivan he is going to kick the door down and make a statement. He tells Sullivan he will “fight to the death for who and what he believes in.” Sigh. We are getting closer to the Benoit/Nancy on screen pairing ending. Nancy is great but it’s just tough watching this.

The Giant vs. Top Gun and Johnny Swinger

-Giant gets Kane like pyro from the ring posts during his entrance. Cool! Swinger tries to attack from behind, but that doesn’t go well. Chokeslam to Swinger and one for Gun and we are out at 41 seconds.

Winner: The Giant via pin at 41 seconds
-This was here to show The Giant can beat two guys since he is facing The Outsiders on Sunday. SQUASH

-Giant gets a can of spray paint and tags the two jobbers with “Hall” and “Nash.” Gene is out and so is Lex Luger. Luger announces he has a release to wrestle on Sunday while wearing a protective device. Eric Bischoff is out and tells Luger he is late as he needed the release by the end of last week’s show. Eric: “We can’t make matches by the seat of our pants.” Funny! Luger does not take this well but promises to be there Sunday. Giant goes after Eric for calling him a fur ball. I loved Furrball on Tiny Toon Adventures. We also remember Giant called Hogan a feline earlier in the year, so maybe they just had a cat fetish in WCW.

-Roddy Piper is in a jail cell in Alcatraz preparing for Sunday. Roddy was fully committed as he talks about being dead inside and starts shooting as this isn’t a “wrestling promo,” to sell tickets. He calls Hogan out for needing to be recognized and that’s why he walks around in spandex and wears a Hollywood bandana. “You think I walk around in my kilt.” Piper then rolls around on the floor as he is going to stay here for seven days and seven nights. “I’m going to teach you pain is a four letter word.” He then goes back to doing push-ups. Yep! Crazy bastard!

Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Jarrett

-Tony announces we are past the 10 PM hour, but this is Nitro. FEEL THE OVERRUN! Debra is out to root for Jeff as he “needs to win this.” Slingshot suplex from Jarrett. He hooks a sleeper, but Jericho breaks immediately with a belly-to-back suplex. Roll-up for two. Backslide for Jarrett gets two. Jarret up top and gets a cross-body, but Jericho rolls through and gets two. Mongo is out to get his wife. Debra tells Jericho not to hurt JJ as he heads up top. He misses and Jarrett gets a figure-four. Mongo in and cracks Jarrett with the briefcase as Debra has the ref and Jericho covers for the pin at 2:32. Debra is not happy! These two are funny together!

Winner: Chris Jericho via pin at 2:32
-Jericho gets a win before his PPV match, but he was just a stand in for the Debra/Jarrett/Mongo story. *

-nWo time as Hulk Hogan is out with Eric, Elizabeth, and Dibiase. Another week where I can note that Liz is a beautiful lady. Hogan starts his promo and brings up Piper hiding behind his kids, but before he really gets going, Sting and Randy Savage walk out on the ramp. Hogan doesn’t seem concerned and goes back to cutting his promo. Hogan says he is a god to the people in Tampa and put the city on the map. Sting and Savage head to the ring, but Savage stops Sting and talks him out of it. I wonder why? The music starts playing as a way to get Hogan to wrap it up and he finishes by saying he is Hollywood Hogan and doesn’t want to hear Hulk anymore. Tired of paying Marvel I guess.

-Thanks for reading!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

A couple solid matches and a lot of hype and angle advancement for SuperBrawl. It was a solid go home show with good energy and has me wanting to watch the PPV again. I did a review recently, so I won't do it again, but I am going to watch. Any new thoughts I will share in next week's Nitro review.